September 22, 2019, Numbers 13; 14:1-10a – Post 3

IX.
Before we move on to the activities of the weekend, let me put one more thought before you.

I have often thought of approaching Scripture with different lens (or templates) that might help us draw out the meanings and implications in a passage. It’s true that we often apply all sorts of lens to Scripture that can impose interpretations on a passage and that is not what I envision. Rather the lens we would bring to the passage would help us look into the passage, the scene(s), the individuals we encounter there and provoke us to ask questions that would take us deeper into the passage and its meaning.

Want to give it a try with our Scripture for this week?

X.
The lens I suggest you bring to this passage is “Community.”

What communities do you see here? What groups of people? How many different and differing communities do you see? Three? Four? You know, a community could be made up of just two people.

How do people act and behave as a member of that community? How do the communities interact with one another? Positively? Negatively?

What interaction does an individual have with a community in which they are a member? Or, a community they stand on the outside of?